//------------------------------// // Martial Law // Story: The Crystal Vizier // by Lich-Lord Krosis //------------------------------// Shining Armor was pissed. VERY pissed. As he sat in his bed with his wife, who's quivering form was all but concealed beneath his massive form, his face was bathed in hatred. The stallion snorted, turning his head from the corpse of Fire Fight, the green blood and bile of the changeling having congealed already. Shining turned to his archmage and the stallion next to him, a growl issuing from his muzzle. "Kel'Thuzad, I have an order for you and your accomplice." Shining half-growled. Kel'Thuzad raised his skull form the bow he was in, and looked questioningly at his king. "Yes, my lord?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his scarlet eyes showing nearly as much hatred as his king's. Perhaps even more... "Anything, my liege." Rivendare bowed even lower, seemingly in reverence and worship. The Lich King grinned slightly, and spoke. "As of right now, the entirety of this city is in lockdown. No one is to enter or leave the keep's grounds. I want all guards stationed in the palace to relocate to all possible entry points." Shining turned to Rivendare, and nodded. "Friend, I wish you to mobilize what little troops that are in the barracks, and perform house-to-house checks." Rivendare nodded, and turned to leave with another bow, his runeblade floating into his magical grip with a flash of purplish energy. "The common changeling lacks a soul. Check each and EVERY civilian. Those without souls..." "Die." Shining spat, his wife quivering slightly in fear at the horrific and barbaric sentence. "NO exceptions..." "Yes, my king." Rivendare turned and bowed one last time, before galloping off towards the entrance to the Royal Quarter. Shining turned to the archlich, a scowl still present on his face. "Kel'Thuzad, I wish for you to take the corpse of this... MONSTER, and extort any information you can from him." Shining grinned somewhat evilly. Kel'Thuzad frowned lightly in order, before his brow curved upwards, along with his jagged teeth, forming a sinister, knowing grin. "Use whatever is necessary to..." "Persuade him..." Shining smirked, a darker, deeper tone accompanying his words. "There is a dungeon space below the palace. Once you are finished, do what you wish with him." Shining spat. Cadence's eyes emerged from the embrace of her husband for the first time, wide with shock. "Shiny..." Cadence whimpered, nuzzling Shining's throat lightly to get his attention. Shining's gaze turned down to his wife, his gaze softening instantly. "Cady, I don't want you to see this. Can you please trust me?" Shining asked. He knew her love of peace was strong, and she appalled decrees and orders regarding it's opposite, but she had to understand that being a ruler is not always as peaceful job. "Shiny... please don't hurt them..." Shining stopped her speech with a single kiss to the nose, silencing her for the moment. He thought for a moment, trying to think of a way to accommodate her request. Cadence shuddered once, and then retreated back into her cocoon of pale, white-furred flesh. "Kel'Thuzad?" "Yes, my king?" "Inform your friend that if any changelings wish to seek asylum or speak to us, he is to send them to us. Children are to be spared." Shining modified, his voice softening at the last of his sentence. Kel'Thuzad nodded once, bowing stiffly to his rulers. "Of course, my lord." Shining nodded. "You are dismissed." "Yes, my king." Kel'Thuzad bowed once more, before his right claw extended to teleport the corpse of the fallen changeling to his quarters for preparation, the blood and brain matter disintegrating from view as he did. The lich then swiftly floated away, the door shutting behind him gently. The second the archlich was clear of the door, Cadence sobbed into Shining's fur, the princess's near-death experience finally having caught up with her. Shining hugged her to his form tighter, trying to console his mate. His princess. His queen... ......... The gentle clip-clopping of hooves on crystal roads echoed throught the small city block, the large group of armored stallions taking their positions next to each of the houses they were assigned to, Baron Rivendare having informed them of the houses they were to raid. "Captain?" Titus himself looked to his right, a comparatively small stallion saluting him stiffly, the young lad obviously scared out of his mind. From what he'd heard, the Empire's 'soldiers' had little to no combat experience, and lacked proper military training and discipline. In fact, the majority of he stallions and mares under him currently were the Canterlot regiment that had followed their prince and princess to the Frozen North. Since that was the case, his ruler had told him to be a little... Forgiving with them. "Yes, lieutenant?" Rivendare asked, a single white eyebrow raising at the soldier's request. "The men are in position. Shall I give the order?" ......... "No. Let me..." Titus grinned, his form growing tense. He waited until his soldiers took up their positions at the houses around him, his own body pointed towards another down the block. Then, he roared his proclamation to the cold night air. "CHANGELINGS! A RING OF IRON AND STEEL SURROUND YOUR PATHETIC FAUX-LIVES!" "BY ORDER OF PRINCE SHINING ARMOR, YOU ARE TO BE EXPELLED OR TERMINATED FROM THIS GRAND CITY!" "GLORY TO THE LICH KING!" "GLORY TO THE SCOURGE!" With the last of the deafening exclamation, the soldiers breached the homes, the screams and guttural hisses of the changeling imposters echoing through the night. Baron Titus Rivendare just roared in delight, decay already pouring from the unholy knight's form as he galloped away towards the house he had chosen for his own 'enjoyment'. It was GOOD to be back... ......... With a shuddering cough, the changeling awoke. With a pained gasp, Fire Fight found that he could not move his legs. Any of them. "Glad to see you finally awake, 'Lord' Fire Fight..." "K-Kel'Thuzad..." Fire Fight growled, attempting to summon up his magic. "AGHH!" the stallion groaned, the half of his face still intact splashing into a retched-smelling puddle of viscous liquid as he collapsed forwards. "I believe you will find that you are quite... incapacitated..." the lich mocked plainly, emotionlessly, the cold of his face mere centimeters from the stallion's. "B-B-Buck you..." Fire Fight growled, attempting once more to summon up his beloved magic, only to be met with monumental pain once more, the ringing in his ears signaling this. "Hehehehe..." Kel'Thuzad chuckled, his form rising to it's full height once more. "Now... let us begin, shall we?" the lich mocked, his cold, lifeless eyes taking in the pathetic form of the quadriplegic stallion before him, said stallion's face planted into a puddle of excess embalming fluid.